Thursday, 28 July 2011

Hideous Greenwash

This week there's been some really shocking greenwash going on with Tar Sands exploiters trying to sell their oil as being ethical and Ryanair doing green PR campaign!

A marketing blog was quite taken back by this, as "Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary previously described global warming as “bullshit” and green activists as “Luddites”. He also labelled environmentalists “lying wankers” and said that the best thing that can be done with them was to “shoot them” as they seek to make air travel the preserve of the rich."

Now he's boasting that his fleet has lower CO2 emissions than competitors, so why does he think that matters? Surely, it's not a cynical marketing ploy by a member of a struggling industry. With Thomson having to abandon its plans for a flight using 50% cooking oil due to problems getting it here from the USA, you really do wonder how desperate things are getting for airlines.

Trying to justify this on the grounds that Canada is a better place for gay people than other oil producing nations is just abhorrent:

They also use the persecution of women, terrorism and many other ridiculous claims that supposedly mean dirty Canadian oil is better than any other. Take this action now to stop Tar Sands coming into Europe, oh yes and please think again if you were going to fly abroad on holiday this year, as there is nothing that increases your carbon footprint more.